Prayagraj targets 40,000 vaccinations per week

PRAYAGRAJ: The district medical and health department has decided to boost the vaccination initiative across the district, amidst rising incidents of Covid-19 cases, department officials said.

The department will now target vaccinating 40,000 people every week in a systematic manner in accordance with a blueprint drawn by the state government.

Under it, different days of the week will have different targets: 10,000 each on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays besides 3,600 each on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Saturdays, Prabhakar Rai, chief medical officer, Prayagraj.

He said that preparations for achieving the target are now underway. He appealed to people to come forward to get vaccinated at any of the designated vaccination centres.

The CMO said that people need to cooperate and take the necessary precautions to keep themselves and their loved

ones safe from the virus. He appealed that those planning to travel in light of Holi should get themselves tested and ensure that relatives visiting their homes also get themselves tested.

These moves come at a time when Prayagraj is witnessing a gradual surge in the detection of fresh cases. In the 11 days between March 12 and March 21, Prayagraj has registered 120 positive cases—a whopping rise by eight times in new cases from a mere four cases on

March 13 to 34 on March 22.

On Monday, the district recorded 34 fresh cases including three workers at the Bara Power Plant. The rise, however, started from March 19 itself. Between March 19 and March 22, the district witnessed 79 fresh Covid-19 cases, officials said.

In light of the rise in cases, district health officials have started focussed sampling and testing with renewed vigour, especially of people arriving in the district from other states, AK Tiwari, district surveillance officer, said.

He said that railway stations, airport and bus stations are in focus in this drive, though no one has yet come up positive at these sites.